Emma Roberts is Not a Hollywood Cliché

PARK CITY, UTAH—Earlier this week at the Sundance Film Festival, Emma Roberts and a crew of friends were spotted running back and forth between the upstairs VIP floor at Bing Bar and Florence and the Machine's acoustic performance downstairs. It conjured up thoughts that this almost twenty year old, who stars in the hopelessly romantic high school flick, Homework, might fit the young Hollywood cliche: party girl with little substance. But when ELLE sat down with Roberts on this snowy day in Park City, she proved to be a cultured, articulate, self-assured actress.

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ELLE: What attracted you to Homework?ER: I liked that everyone's voice in it was real. It didn't feel contrived or cliché. It's an age old story about relationships between people, but I think it's done with a different look and perspective.

ELLE: The film is set on a Manhattan campus, where did you attend high school?ER: I've only been to high school in movies. My friends always make fun of me [for that]. When we were shooting Scream [4], college had started. We were shooting in Michigan—it's a big college town, Ann Arbor—and we were driving by this frat, and I was like what movie are they shooting here, because the guys were playing volleyball shirtless and drinking red bull and chugging beers, just like a scene from a movie. And everyone was like Emma, that's college. And I was really embarrassed. I didn't realize it was as cliché as they all say.

ELLE: The film has an opinion on this subject, but I'm curious to see what you think, can you be friends with the opposite sex without sexual tension?ER: I think you can, but I think one or the other [person] has at least thought about what it would be like to be with them.

ELLE: Now that I'm sitting down with you, I'm struck by the fact that you are very similar to your character in the film. You're not the stereotype of young women, who can be unsure of themselves and apologetic.ER: Yeah, I'm not.

ELLE: What do you attribute that to?ER: I grew up with just my mom. She and I were like best friends. She's a very independent woman and I admire that about her. In my life, I've tried to be like that. To be okay with being on my own and being independent.

ELLE: You're an avid reader. What have you read recently?ER: I read Just Kids by Patti Smith. After that I read the Detmar Blow book, Blow by Blow. I cried. It's so sad. I didn't know anything about [his late iconic wife, Isabella], so it was great to read. I'm into memoirs, now I'm reading the Ivana Lowell book, Why Not Say What Happened, which is crazy in a good way.

ELLE: Where do you like to travel?ER: London is my favorite place in the world. I love London. I think it has the best of LA and New York in one and I have a really great friend there.

ELLE: In life and in the movie, you have great style. What influences you?ER: It's funny, in Homework, I wore a lot of my own clothes. I have this cool, leather motorcycle jacket I got in London when I was sixteen. It's the first leather jacket I ever bought. I really wanted my character, Sally, to be able to wear it. And I have these Fiorentini + Baker boots, just the buckle up ones. And I was like, "I've worn these in perfectly, we should use them"

ELLE: Where do you shop?ER: I'm into everythingIsabel Marantdoes, because it's all so wearable. Stella McCartney always does the most feminine, pretty things. I love Chanel, all the time. I'm really into the Chanel accessories right now. Even their costume jewlery is so much fun. I love going to random stores and seeing what I find or looking online at certain blogs, [like] WhoWhatWear and BonaDrag.